1967 New orleans saints season
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia 1967 New Orleans Saints season Head coach Tom Fears General manager Bert Rose Owner John W. Mecom, Jr. Home field Tulane Stadium Results Record 4-10 Division place 4th Capitol Playoff finish did not qualify Timeline Previous season Next season — 1968 > The 1967 New Orleans Saints season was the inaugural season for the franchise. The team went 4-10, finishing in last place in the four-team MNFL Eastern Conference Capitol Division. Contents hide 1 Offseason 1.1 Expansion Draft 1.2 NFL Draft 2 Personnel 2.1 Staff 3 Regular season 3.1 Schedule 3.2 Game summaries 3.2.1 Week 14 3.3 Standings 4 References 5 External links Offseason Expansion Draft The Saints made a splash in the expansion draft by selecting Green Bay Packers running back Paul Hornung. Lombardi was distraught when the Saints selected Hornung in the draft.1 In later years, Hornung revealed that he spoke to Saints coach Tom Fears prior to the draft. Fears was a former assistant in Green Bay and Fears felt that Hornung would help sell tickets in New Orleans.1 Several weeks later, the Saints also signed Packers running back Jim Taylor. Taylor had felt underpaid and underappreciated under Lombardi.2 An examination at the Scripps Clinic in California found the severing of the fifth, sixth, and seventh verterbrae, and damaged nerve roots in the spinal cord of Hornung. It was decided that Hornung would retire and he would never play a game for the Saints.2 NFL Draftedit Round Pick Player Position School 1 Personneledit Staffedit 1967 New Orleans Saints staff Front Office President – John W. Mecom, Jr. Executive Vice President/General Manager – Bert Rose Director of Player Personnel – Vic Schwenk Head Coaches Head Coach – Tom Fears Assistant Coaches Assistant Coach – George Dickson Assistant Coach – Jack Faulkner Assistant Coach – Ed Khayat Assistant Coach – J. D. Roberts Assistant Coach – Bob Shaw Assistant Coach – Walt Yowarsky 3 Regular seasonedit Things look couldn't look better for the Saints and their inaugural season. A 5–1 preseason record was followed by a 94-yard kick-off return for a touchdown by rookie John Gilliam to begin the 1967 season against the Los Angeles Rams. ( There is a rumor in the annals of New Orleans Saints legends that following this play many fans allegedly heard another fan in Tulane Stadium shout out aloud "This is going to be the greatest football team in history!" – thus forever jinxing the Saints). Apparently the Rams were not informed of this declaration as they quickly recovered from the opening blow to win 27–13. The first-ever win for the Saints came in week 8 when rookie wide receiver Flea Roberts scored 3 touchdowns in a 31–24 victory over the Pittsburg steelers. With additional triumphs over Atlanta, Philidelphia and Washington the 4 wins for the year beat the most for an expansion team. Former Green Bay Great Jim Taylor lead the team with 390 yards rushing and 17th round pick rookie Danny Abramowicz from Xavier College led in receiving with 50 grabs for 721 yards and 6 touchdowns. Defensive back Dave Whitshell lead the team as well as the NFL in interceptions with 10 steals—still a New Orleans Saint season record. Scheduleedit Date Opponent Result Attendance September 17 Los Angeles Rams L 13–27 80,879 September 24 Washington Redskins L 10–30 74,937 October 1 Cleveland Browns L 7–42 77,045 October 8 at New York Giants L 21–27 62,670 October 15 at Dallas Cowboys L 10–14 64,128 October 22 at San Francisco 49ers L 13–27 34,285 October 29 Pittsburgh Steelers W 17–14 70,911 November 5 Philadelphia Eagles W 26–24 64,596 November 12 Dallas Cowboys L 21–27 83,437 November 19 at Philadelphia Eagles L 28–41 60,751 November 26 Atlanta Falcons W 27–24 83,437 December 3 at St. Louis Cardinals L 20–31 41,171 December 10 at Baltimore Colts L 10–30 60,238 December 17 at Washington Redskins W 30–14 50,486 Game summariesedit Week 14edit 1 2 3 4 Total • Saints 0 7 9 14 30 Redskins 0 0 7 7 14 Date: December 17 Location: D.C. Stadium Standingsedit NFL Capitol view talk edit W L T PCT PF PA STK Dallas Cowboys 9 5 0 .643 342 268 L1 Philadelphia Eagles 6 7 1 .462 351 409 W1 Washington Redskins 5 6 3 .455 347 353 L1 New Orleans Saints 3 11 0 .214 233 379 W1 Referencesedit ^ Jump up to: a b When Pride Still Mattered, David Maraniss,p. 407, Simon & Schuster, 1999, ISBN 978-0-684-84418-3 ^ Jump up to: a b When Pride Still Mattered, David Maraniss,p. 408, Simon & Schuster, 1999, ISBN 978-0-684-84418-3 Jump up ^ "All-Time Roster". NewOrleansSaints.com. Retrieved June 23, 2012. External linksedit New Orleans Saints History Saints on Pro Football Reference show v t e New Orleans Saints show v t e New Orleans Saints seasons hide v t e 1967 NFL season Eastern Conference Capitol Century Coastal Central Western Conference Dallas Cleveland Atlanta Chicago New Orleans NY Giants Baltimore Detroit Philadelphia Pittsburgh Los Angeles Green Bay Washington St. Louis San Francisco Minnesota 1967 NFL Draft NFL Playoffs NFL Championship Pro Bowl Super Bowl II Related: 1967 AFL Season Categories: 1967 National Football League season by teamNew Orleans Saints seasons